The New Mexico class was a class of three super-dreadnought battleships built for the United States Navy in the late 1910s. The class comprised three ships: New Mexico, the lead ship, Mississippi, and Idaho. Part of the standard series, they were in most respects copies of the Pennsylvania-class battleships that immediately preceded them, carrying over the same main battery arrangement of twelve 14-inch (356 mm) guns, but now increased to 50-caliber. They incorporated several other improvements, including a better arrangement of the secondary battery that increased its usability, a clipper bow that improved seakeeping, and an experimental turbo-electric propulsion system adopted on New Mexico. Like the other standard-type battleships, they had a top speed of 21 knots that allowed the fleet to operate as a tactically homogeneous unit.
Coastal defence ships were warships built for the purpose of coastal defence, mostly during the period from 1860 to 1920. They were small, often cruiser-sized warships that sacrificed speed and range for armour and armament. They were usually attractive to nations that either could not afford full-sized battleships or could be satisfied by specially designed shallow-draft vessels capable of littoral operations close to their own shores. The Nordic countries and Thailand found them particularly appropriate for their island-dotted coastal waters. Some vessels had limited blue-water capabilities; others operated in rivers.
The Peresvet class was a group of three pre-dreadnought battleships built for the Imperial Russian Navy around the end of the 19th century. Peresvet and Pobeda were transferred to the Pacific Squadron upon completion and based at Port Arthur from 1901 and 1903, respectively. All three ships were lost by the Russians in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–05; Peresvet and Pobeda participated in the Battles of Port Arthur and the Yellow Sea and were sunk during the siege of Port Arthur. Oslyabya, the third ship, sailed to the Far East with the Second Pacific Squadron to relieve the Russian forces blockaded in Port Arthur and was sunk at the Battle of Tsushima with the loss of over half her crew.
The Moltke class was a class of two "all-big-gun" battlecruisers of the German Imperial Navy built between 1909–1911. Named SMS Moltke and SMS Goeben, they were similar to the previous battlecruiser Von der Tann, but the newer design featured several incremental improvements. The Moltkes were slightly larger, faster, and better armored, and had an additional pair of 28 cm (11 in) guns.
The Roon class was a pair of armored cruisers built for the German Kaiserliche Marine in the 1900s. The two ships of the class, Roon and Yorck, closely resembled the earlier Prinz Adalbert-class cruisers upon which they were based. The Roon class incorporated slight incremental improvements, including a pair of extra boilers. The ships were easily distinguished from their predecessors by the addition of a fourth funnel. Though the additional boilers were meant to increase the ships' speed, both vessels failed to reach their designed top speed. In addition, the ships had comparatively light armament and thin armor protection, so they compared poorly with their foreign contemporaries, particularly the armored cruisers of their primary opponent, the British Royal Navy.
SMS Prinz Heinrich was a unique German armored cruiser built at the turn of the 20th century for the German Kaiserliche Marine, named after Kaiser Wilhelm II's younger brother Prince Heinrich. The second vessel of that type built in Germany, Prinz Heinrich was constructed at the Kaiserliche Werft in Kiel, being laid down in December 1898, launched in March 1900, and commissioned in March 1902. Prinz Heinrich's design was a modification of the previous armored cruiser, Fürst Bismarck, and traded a smaller main battery and thinner armor for higher speed. All subsequent German armored cruisers were incremental developments of Prinz Heinrich.
The Victoria Louise class of protected cruisers was the last class of ships of that type built for the German Imperial Navy. The class design introduced the combined clipper and ram bow and the blocky sides that typified later German armored cruisers. The class comprised five vessels, Victoria Louise, the lead ship, Hertha, Freya, Vineta, and Hansa. The ships were laid down in 1895–1896, and were launched in 1897–1898 and commissioned into the fleet over the following year.
The St. Louis-class cruisers were a class of three cruisers that served in the United States Navy at the beginning of the 20th century. Authorized in fiscal year 1901 by an Act of Congress of 7 June 1900 as part of the naval buildup touched off by the Spanish–American War, the St. Louis-class cruiser initially began as an improved Olympia. However, during the design phase, decisions were made that increased the size of the vessel from 6,000 long tons (6,100 t) to 9,700 long tons (9,900 t), including adding protection that resulted in the designation "semi-armored cruiser". This led to a larger power plant, and other decisions were made to try to increase speed and range, such as using smaller 6-inch (152 mm) guns instead of 8-inch (203 mm) guns, and adding coal capacity. The completed ship at 9,700 long tons was the same displacement as a full armored cruiser without the same armor. One reference describes the class as "among the earliest well-documented examples of creeping growth in warship design".
The Bouvines class consisted of a pair of ironclad coastal-defense ships built for the French Navy in the 1890s, Bouvines and Amiral Tréhouart. Thoroughly obsolete by World War I, the ships only played a minor role during the war. They were sold for scrap in 1920.
Riachuelo was a Brazilian ironclad battleship completed in 1883. She was named in honour of the Battle of Riachuelo in 1865. Built in the United Kingdom, the ship entered service with the Brazilian Navy in 1883 and remained in service until 1910.
The Matsushima class was a class of protected cruisers of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN), with three ships named after the three most famous scenic spots in Japan. The Matsushima class was a highly unorthodox design among cruisers of the 1890s, as each ship had a primary armament of a single massive 320 millimetres (13 in) Canet gun, resulting in a monitor-like appearance.
Abdül Kadir was a pre-dreadnought battleship laid down in 1892 at the Imperial Arsenal in Constantinople for the Ottoman Navy, the first vessel of this type to be ordered by the Ottoman Empire. The ship was the first capital ship to be laid down by the Ottomans in more than a decade. She was to have a main armament of four 28-centimeter (11 in) guns, with an armored belt that was 230 mm (9.1 in) thick. Work proceeded on the ship very slowly, primarily the result of a lack of funds; after two years, only the frames for the hull had been erected, and by the time work stopped in 1906, the hull had been only partially plated. During the long construction period, the supports for the keel shifted, which distorted the structure and prevented completion. The unfinished ship was ultimately broken up for scrap in 1909.
Two Minas Geraes-class battleships were built for the Brazilian Navy in the early twentieth century. Named Minas Geraes and São Paulo, these "dreadnought" warships were intended to be Brazil's first step towards becoming an international power, and they consequently initiated a South American naval arms race.
In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the South American nations of Argentina and Chile engaged in an expensive naval arms race to ensure the other would not gain supremacy in the Southern Cone.
Deodoro, also known as Marshal Deodoro, was a coastal defense ship built for the Brazilian Navy at the end of the nineteenth century. It was the lead ship of its class, alongside Floriano. Deodoro was one of several ships that rebelled in the 1910 Revolt of the Lash, and it was used for neutrality patrols during the First World War. It was sold to Mexico in 1924, and broken up for scrap in 1938.
Floriano was a Deodoro-class coastal defense ship built for the Brazilian Navy at the end of the nineteenth century.
Amiral Tréhouart was the second and last Bouvines-class ironclad coast-defence ships built for the French Navy in the early 1890s. Completed in 1896, little is known about her service. During World War I, the ship served as a submarine tender. She was sold for scrap in 1920.
